Monday, April 8
Charlottesville, Va.
Liberty University
vs
Lewis Chitengwa Memorial
Flames Begin Busy April Slate at Lewis Chitengwa Memorial
4/6/2024 9:14:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Flames will play their first of three April tournaments, culminating with the CUSA Men's Golf Championship, starting next Monday just 70 miles North of campus.
Liberty will kick off a busy April schedule when they tee it up at the third annual Lewis Chitengwa Memorial, hosted by Virginia at the Birdwood Golf Course (par 71, 7,116 yards) in Charlottesville, Va.
The event, now in its third year, is named in honor of Virginia alumni golfer Lewis Chitengwa who was a two-time All-American (1995, 1996). He finished seventh at the 1996 NCAA Championships, Virginia's best finish at the NCAA Championship during the previous 50 years.
Chitengwa turned professional in 1998 and played on the Tear Drop, Buy.com and Canadian Tours in addition to competing at the PGA's St. Jude Memphis Classic. At the age of 26, he passed away as a result of meningitis. At the time, he was competing in the Canadian Tour's Edmonton Open.
In 2015, he was recognized posthumously for his immense contribution to golf by being inducted into Mercedes-Benz Southern African Golf Hall of Fame.
This year's 14-team field includes some of the best teams in the country, featuring including Florida State (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 10), Arkansas (No. 11), Virginia (No. 12), North Florida (No. 31) and Northwestern (No. 40).
Play gets underway on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start, kicking off 36 holes of continuous play. The final round will get underway on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with fixed tee times going off No. 1 and No. 10 tees.
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2023-24 Stroke Average)
Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
Looking at the Latest Rankings (Scoreboard National Rankings as of April 3):
Arkansas (No. 11)
Clemson (No. 56)
Florida State (No. 6)
Liberty (No. 92)
Loyola (Md.) (No. 150)
Maryland (No. 202)
North Florida (No. 31)
Northwestern (No. 40)
Tennessee (No. 10)
Texas State (No. 97)
Toledo (No. 98)
Virginia (No. 12)
Virginia Tech (No. 115)
Course Information:
Following the Flames at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:
Liberty will kick off a busy April schedule when they tee it up at the third annual Lewis Chitengwa Memorial, hosted by Virginia at the Birdwood Golf Course (par 71, 7,116 yards) in Charlottesville, Va.
The event, now in its third year, is named in honor of Virginia alumni golfer Lewis Chitengwa who was a two-time All-American (1995, 1996). He finished seventh at the 1996 NCAA Championships, Virginia's best finish at the NCAA Championship during the previous 50 years.
Chitengwa turned professional in 1998 and played on the Tear Drop, Buy.com and Canadian Tours in addition to competing at the PGA's St. Jude Memphis Classic. At the age of 26, he passed away as a result of meningitis. At the time, he was competing in the Canadian Tour's Edmonton Open.
In 2015, he was recognized posthumously for his immense contribution to golf by being inducted into Mercedes-Benz Southern African Golf Hall of Fame.
This year's 14-team field includes some of the best teams in the country, featuring including Florida State (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 10), Arkansas (No. 11), Virginia (No. 12), North Florida (No. 31) and Northwestern (No. 40).
Play gets underway on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start, kicking off 36 holes of continuous play. The final round will get underway on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with fixed tee times going off No. 1 and No. 10 tees.
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2023-24 Stroke Average)
- Josh Ryan (70.58)
- Brett Reid (73.00)
- Ike Joy (73.00)
- Isaac Simmons (73.48)
- Austin Barbin (73.96)
- Individual: Camden Braidech (74.00)
Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:
- This will be Liberty's second appearance at the relatively new Lewis Chitengwa Memorial.
- The Flames finished in sixth place during the tournament's inaugural event in 2022.
- Liberty carded a 6-under par 846 (285-279-282), finishing two shots outside a top-five finish.
- Virginia won the tournament, posting a 15-under par 837 (279-287-280) to claim a one-stroke victory over Tennessee on the Cavaliers home golf course.
- Kieran Vincent paced the Flames at the event with a 7-under par 206 (72-64-70), finishing in third place and five shots off the overall lead.
- Current members of Liberty's roster who participated in the 2022 event included Isaac Simmons (T43 6-over par 219/75-75-69) and Austin Barbin (T51 7-over par 220/72-73-75).
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
- The Flames finished up their Spring Break week with an 11th-place finish at the General Hackler Championship on March 20, its last time on the course.
- Liberty carded a 13-over par 877 (290-294-293) during three trips around The Dunes Golf & Beach Club (par 72, 7,233 yards) in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
- Josh Ryan paced Liberty during the Coastal Carolina hosted tournament by finishing in 12th place with an even par 216 (73-72-71).
- He carded six of his 11 birdies at this event during the final round to record his sixth top 20 finish of the 2023-24 season.
- Louisville's Max Kennedy claimed individual medalist honors with a winning score of 8-under par 208 (68-71-69).
- No. 48 Louisville won the event, saving its best round of golf for the final round.
- The Cardinals closed the tournament with a 5-under par 283 to win by five shots with a winning score of 5-under par 859 (286-290-283).
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
- The Flames enter their fifth tournament of the spring ranked No. 92 in the latest Scoreboard national rankings.
- Liberty finished the fall with a team stroke average of 285.08.
- Josh Ryan has led Liberty at each of the Flames first eight events of the 2023-24 season.
- Ryan paces the Flames on the year in scoring average (70.58), rounds at par or better (16-of-24), rounds in the 60s (8) and birdies (92).
- Seniors Austin Barbin and Isaac Simmons lead Liberty with four eagles each this year.
- The Flames enter the spring season looking to capture their eighth conference title since 2011 and their first as a member of Conference USA.
- Liberty closed out its time in the ASUN Conference by winning the title in record fashion when the Flames posted a 53-under par 811 (275-261-275) in the championship event.
- Liberty captured the conference title five times as a member of the Big South Conference (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018) and twice as a member of the ASUN Conference (2021 and 2023).
- The Flames have advanced to the NCAA Regionals 11 of the last 12 regional events and to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship four times in program history (2012, 2019, 2021 and 2022).
Looking at the Latest Rankings (Scoreboard National Rankings as of April 3):
Arkansas (No. 11)
Clemson (No. 56)
Florida State (No. 6)
Liberty (No. 92)
Loyola (Md.) (No. 150)
Maryland (No. 202)
North Florida (No. 31)
Northwestern (No. 40)
Tennessee (No. 10)
Texas State (No. 97)
Toledo (No. 98)
Virginia (No. 12)
Virginia Tech (No. 115)
Course Information:
- Birdwood Golf Course (Charlottesville, Va.)
- Par 71, 7,116 yards
Following the Flames at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:
- Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
- Twitter @LibertyGolf
- Instagram @LibertyGolf
- Round 1 Tee Time: Monday at 8:30 a.m./EST (Shotgun start)
Players Mentioned
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